Recommended Television Programmes

[LMcD]

... for Maigret on the telly I think the Rupert Davies episodes were comparatively weak. If I remember they were an hour long, which meant the stories were trimmed and scampered through; Rupert Davies himself was all right but the other actors were often abysmal, dragged out of rep - and the cardboard scenery often wobbled. But - they did have some authentic Paris filming. The Michael Gambon series was stronger, but only ran for twelve episodes ; it was mainly filmed in Budapest. The Rowan Atkinson series I gave up on : he just didn't convince as Maigret.

I think the Bruno Cremer series has been outstanding. Tragically he died not long after : in the final episode his voice had to be dubbed because of the the throat cancer that was to kill him.

.

I'll certainly investigate (ho! ho!) M. Cremer in the light of your advocacy of this series - there should still be some episodes on TPTV's catch-up service, and it's also possible that all episodes may be repeated at some point. I spent about 5 minutes watching Blackadder's Maigret and my worst fears were confirmed. Michael Gambon's fine 'Maigret' was, as you say, only with us for a short while. I think there may be other examples of TV dramas being filmed in Eastern Europe where the right 'feel' can more satisfactorily be captured..

[smittims]

I enjoyed the Rupert Davies Maigrets when first shown(early 1960s) and we're enjoying them again on TPTV (Channel 82) . Unlike vinteuil I do like the acting, e.g. Ewen Solon as Lucas, and recently Andre Melly as a very streetwise whore. But for devotees of the books , they're not very faithful. They chopped and combined the plots rather to make 50-minute complete stories, as did the Granada series with Michael Gambon,which I also liked very much.

It seems this is a featureof TV drama adaprytations of novels. I'm glad I saw the 'Pallisers' before I read Trollope's original novels or I'd have been disgusted at the way they carved up the plots and telescoped some of the characters.

The best thing about A Family At War was the quality of the script, so often a weak point in TV drama, in my view. It was very true to life: the young mother refusing to send her children away to Wales because she cannot believe the Luftwaffe will drop bombs on Children, the young wife who can scarcely remember her missing husband and is deep in a new relationship, when he suddenly reappears. Wonderfully convincing

[LMcD]

I enjoyed the Rupert Davies Maigrets when first shown(early 1960s) and we're enjoying them again on TPTV (Channel 82) . Unlike vinteuil I do like the acting, e.g. Ewen Solon as Lucas, and recently Andre Melly as a very streetwise whore. But for devotees of the books , they're not very faithful. They chopped and combined the plots rather to make 50-minute complete stories, as did the Granada series with Michael Gambon,which I also liked very much.

It seems this is a featureof TV drama adaprytations of novels. I'm glad I saw the 'Pallisers' before I read Trollope's original novels or I'd have been disgusted at the way they carved up the plots and telescoped some of the characters.

The best thing about A Family At War was the quality of the script, so often a weak point in TV drama, in my view. It was very true to life: the young mother refusing to send her children away to Wales because she cannot believe the Luftwaffe will drop bombs on Children, the young wife who can scarcely remember her missing husband and is deep in a new relationship, when he suddenly reappears. Wonderfully convincing

With the greatest respect, the best thing about A Family At War was Barbara Flynn - mind you, that goes for just about everything else she's been in - The Beiderbecke Affair, A Very Peculiar Practice, Open All Hours, Cracker .....

Every time I listen to the first movement of RVW's 6th I can picture that Union Jack fluttering bravely on top of that sandcastle.

Even though it doesn't feature Barbara Flynn .I'm really enjoying 'Budgie' on TPTV - the chemistry between Adam Faith and Iain Cuthbertson is IMHO on a par with that between George Cole and Dennis Waterman in 'Minder'' although Arthur Daley is basically shifty at worst and lacks Charlie Endell's vicious streak..

[gurnemanz]

With the greatest respect, the best thing about A Family At War was Barbara Flynn - mind you, that goes for just about everything else she's been in - The Beiderbecke Affair, A Very Peculiar Practice, Open All Hours, Cracker .....

A Very Peculiar Practice was one of the greats. I'd happily watch that again if it came round.

[LMcD]

A Very Peculiar Practice was one of the greats. I'd happily watch that again if it came round.

In the light of the current debate about where Radio 3 is heading, it's ironic that during the opening sequence the new doctor passes a sign reading 'Altered* Priorities'.
* Or possibly 'Changed'

[smittims]

Richard Holmes ' War Walks is repeated on BBC4, ad probably o iPlayer. I was ashamed to find how little I knew about the Battle of the Boyne. Holmes' mixture of straight narrative, location-filming and re-enactment is ideal.

[Pulcinella]

A Very Peculiar Practice was one of the greats. I'd happily watch that again if it came round.

Barbara Flynn popped up in Beyond Paradise, had a few good lines, and even hooked up with her former co-star Peter Davison, but I didn't spot any nuns!

[LMcD]

Barbara Flynn popped up in Beyond Paradise, had a few good lines, and even hooked up with her former co-star Peter Davison, but I didn't spot any nuns!

That's probably because there were none there. Other productions which has graced include Cranford, The Barchester Chronicles, Michael Gambon's Maigret, Season's Greetings. the 2002 Forsyte Saga and Kate & Koji.

[eighthobstruction]

A production from 1976, which put a tear in my eye on a Sunday afternoon when I was feeling a bit low....The Dame of Sark : (Anglia TV) Celia Johnson , Tony Britten (2 really lovely portrayals)....4 years of WW2 in 50 minutes so be on your toes....Marvellous (Celia makes the most of every close up)

[eighthobstruction]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhaouoJj7PM The Dame of Sark

[LMcD]

A production from 1976, which put a tear in my eye on a Sunday afternoon when I was feeling a bit low....The Dame of Sark : (Anglia TV) Celia Johnson , Tony Britten (2 really lovely portrayals)....4 years of WW2 in 50 minutes so be on your toes....Marvellous (Celia makes the most of every close up)

I've never seen this - probably too busy following the birth of the 4th member of the family, but it's definitely on my 'to watch' list.
On BBC 4 tonight - 'Blue Remembered Hills', prefaced by Helen Mirren.

[LMcD]

Currently showing on TP TV - 'Crime Story'. These 2 series of dramas from the first half of the 1990s were based on actual cases and produced by several different ITV companies. This week's episode stars ((well, starred) Bernard Hill, and was bookended by a tribute to 'Yosser', whose antics are currently available on iPlayer.

[kernelbogey]

D Day The Unheard Tapes BBC 2
Audio taped interviews with survivors of D Day - German soldiers, French citizens and Resistance fighters as well as allied soldiers - made after the war are lip-synced by present day actors dressed as though of the 1940s, intercut with live contemporaneous cine footage and some reenactments. It seemed to me an unpromising idea but turns out to be magnificent.

[Serial_Apologist]

D Day The Unheard Tapes BBC
Audio taped interviews with survivors of D Day - German soldiers, French citizens and Resistance fighters as well as allied soldiers - made after the war are lip-synced by present day actors dressed as though of the 1940s, intercut with live contemporaneous cine footage and some reenactments. It seemed to me an unpromising idea but turns out to be magnificent.

There was a D Day veteran from Brighton (I think they said) aged 104, being interviewed at the end of the London local BBC 1 News today - extraordinary man, does all his own chores, shopping, laundry etc, sense of humour intact, memory clear as a bell, looks 25 years younger than is. It's a cliché, I know, but I think of what so many of that generation went through and sacrificed to pave the way for a better world not to come whenever I feel sorry for myself.

[smittims]

I quite agree. I think, when I hear people bleating about their 'rights' and the 'wrongs' done to them (when really they mean 'give us money') of all those young men conscripted and sent to suffer and die in the trenches in the first war, and all those whose lives and health were ruined by bombing. There's been no 'reparations ' for them . .